Solpugid: Dead on the Want Ads

I need help with an identification please… August 11, 2009 Well, my Mom discovered this guy roaming the floor on the bedroom in Santa Fe, NM. It looks vaguely spiderlike, and she’s concerned that it may be something that bites. The abdomen looks like it’s jointed, which I don’t think is spiderlike, but it does seem to have pincers or something along those lines. What has she got here? Who the heck is this guy? Santa Fe, NM

Solpugid: Dead from unknown causes

This is a Solpugid, a harmless nocturnal predator. Despite its fierce appearance, the Solpugid has no venom and is no threat to humans or pets, unless your pets are cockroaches or other small creatures. We hope your mom will seriously consider the benefits of allowing Solpugids to live will afford her in the future.

3 Responses to Solpugid: Dead on the Want Ads

I think the “carnage”section is VERY unfair of you. If I had seen something like this I would have killed it too. Every heard of the expression “better safe than sorry”? I have a baby nephew I often babysit. And a cat. I’m familiar with most bugs, coming from the country and living in a rural area. But if it’s something I can’t identify, I jar it if I can, if I can’t i kill it. I once saw what I later was told was a velvet ant, which would have given my nephew, my cat, or myself a very painful sting. I haven’t come across a bug to sting or bite me that I have not had a horrible allergic reaction to.

You really shouldn’t go judging people like that. It’s not too much to want to be safe inside your home, from something that could be poisonous and end up causing serious health issues. Maybe you’d like to live in a home where roaches and earwigs crawl freely over clothing, and food, and flatware, and mosquitoes and fleas bite freely, but I don’t. I’d call that sort of scenario living outdoors.

And on a second thought. You’re calling what these people do “carnage” but you are making money off Google Adsense Ads about bug extermination. With a ironic little “we don’t endorse bug extermination” plug that’s completely useless. Hypocritical much? You can go into adsense and filter what ads will be displayed.

Dear carolinealicia, Upon approving your comments, we reread our original response on this post to try to figure our why you were so judgmental of our answer, first calling us “unfair” and then feeling compelled to write back to call us “hypocritical.” There is nothing unfair about trying to educate the public, for free, that a creature is harmless. Nowhere in our response did we insult the person who submitted the query, either by using nouns or adjectives to personally attack. Our simple response stated a fact about the harmlessness of a Solpugid, and a determination that the action leading to the creature’s death was without cause. While we would love to be able to run our FREE site without advertisers, the fact of the matter is that it would be cost prohibitive. We need the advertisers, or we would have to shut down a site that we hope is bringing free information, and perhaps a bit of entertainment, to the web browsing public. Our site’s content makes it clear that we feel strongly about Unnecessary Carnage, and there is no irony intended with our disclaimer that we do not endorse extermination. We also believe in free speech, which is why we have allowed your insulting comments to us to post. We also pity you that you have such anger in your life, and we hope you may one day find peace.